Henry Turner Irving was appointed assistant junior clerk in the Colonial Office on
4 December 1854 and was promoted to junior clerk on 1 November 1858 and assistant
clerk on 23 April 1863. He served as private secretary to Secretary of State
Henry Labouchere from 25 May to 1 June 1856, and to under-secretary
Frederic Rogers from March 1862 to April 1863. He resigned from the Colonial Office in May 1869 to
accept the position of colonial secretary in Ceylon [Sri Lanka].
Office-Holders, Colonial Office, p. 43, Colonial Office List 1864, p. 186.